SS ''De Grasse'' was an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

built in 1921 by

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

, Birkenhead, United Kingdom for the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, and launched in February 1924. In August 1924 The De Grasse set sail on her maiden voyage on the Le Havre to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

route. After the fall of France to Nazi Germany, the ship was use as a floating barracks ship. Sunk at Bordeaux, France, during the German retreat, she was refloated, repaired and put back into service. Over the years and shipowners, she became the ''Empress of Australia'' and then ''Venezuela''. The vessel ran aground off Cannes, France, in 1962 and was

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La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, Italy.

History

CGT Line

Originally speculated ordered under the name ''Suffren'', the ship was renamed after the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) acquired the Brazilian ship SS ''Leopoldina''. The De Grasse was put into service in August 1924 on the Le Havre to

route. It was modernized in 1931. At the start of World War II, it continued its crossings, but in a slightly militarized version (blocked portholes, light armament). In the spring of 1940, it was transformed into a troop transport. The ship was decommissioned in May 1940 at Bordeaux. It was then used as a floating barracks ship for German soldiers and then as a base ship for Italian submariners (Italy had based more than twenty submarines a Bordeaux to support the Germans during the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...

). Appearing as too dangerous a target after the first British bombardment on Bordeaux, the ship surrendered to the Vichy government in May 1942, which used it as a training ship. The Germans partially sank it during their retreat in August 1944. It was refloated in August 1945 and sent to the Penhoët shipyards to be repaired and modernized (it lost a funnel during these transformations). The ship was reassigned to the Le Havre to New York route while the CGT reconstituted a fleet.

Canadian Pacific

In 1953, ''De Grasse'' was sold to Canadian Pacific Steamships after the ship, caught fire and capsized. ''De Grasse'' was renamed in that same year to ''Empress of Australia''. However, she didn't serve Canadian Pacific for long as in 1956 the ship was sold to the Italian company Sicula Oceanica.Haworth, R.B
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Sicula Oceanica

In 1956, the ''Empress of Australia'' was sold to Sicula Oceanica, and after a refit, the ship was renamed the ''Venezuela'' servicing the Naples to Caribbean route. She had an uneventful career with her new owner. In 1962, the ''Venezuela'' was wrecked off Cannes. She was refloated but was broken up at

, Italy in August of the same year.

Notable passengers

In 1949, Jacqueline Bouvier travelled aboard the SS ''De Grasse'' on a study abroad trip to Paris.

History

CGT Line

Canadian Pacific

Sicula Oceanica

Notable passengers

See also

References

Further reading